1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wrist mounting type portable electronic apparatus having a case integrated type bangle type strap and, more particularly, to a structure for fixing a glass member which closes an upper side opening of a case containing an apparatus main body to a case integrated type bangle type strap.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A wrist mounting type portable apparatus of a wrist watch, a wrist mounting type altimeter, a wrist mounting type heart beat meter or the like is constituted by a portable apparatus and a wrist mounting piece. The portable apparatus is constituted by an apparatus main body and a case in a circular shape, a square shape or the like containing the apparatus main body at inside thereof. The apparatus main body is constituted by various mechanical parts and electronic parts to realize an inherent function of a wrist watch, an altimeter, a heat beat meter or the like. The portable apparatus is constituted by the case in a circular shape, a square shape or the like for containing and fixing the apparatus main body. The case is a case not only for simply containing and fixing the apparatus main body of the portable apparatus but realizing also properties of water proof property, pressure resistance property, impact resistance property and the like of the apparatus. Therefore, both of the apparatus main body and the case are indispensable for constituting the wrist mounting type portable apparatus.
The wrist mounting piece is generally a member separate from the case. That is, a general wrist mounting piece is a strap made of skin, made of metal, made of plastic or made of cloth, and many of these are constituted by a pair of left and right strap pieces. Left and right end portions of the case are formed with strap attaching portions. Further, the strap is attached to the case by fixedly attaching respective one-side ends of the pair of strap pieces to the left and right strap attaching portions of the case. By attaching the strap to the case, the wrist mounting type portable apparatus is completed. By this construction, according to the strap used in the wrist mounting type portable apparatus, the pair of left and right strap pieces are separate from each other.
However, there is a strap used in a wrist mounting type portable apparatus which is referred to as a bangle type strap integrated with a pair of left and right strap pieces made of hard plastic or made of metal. A bangle is an ornamental bracelet and a bangle in a shape of a complete ring and a bangle in a shape of an incomplete ring turned around to about 300 degrees are representative. The bangle type strap used in a wrist mounting type portable apparatus is a strap in a shape of an incomplete ring and turned around to about 300 degrees as in the latter case. Although the wrist mounting type portable apparatus having such a bangle type strap achieves an advantage that attachment and detachment to and from the wrist is facilitated in comparison with a wrist mounting type portable apparatus having a strap in which a pair of left and right strap pieces are separate from each other, several problems are posed in view of the structure.
There are two kinds of wrist mounting type portable apparatus having a conventional bangle type strap. The first is a wrist mounting type portable apparatus having a case integrated type bangle type strap in which a strap and a case are integrated. The second is a wrist mounting type portable apparatus having a case separated type bangle type strap in which a strap and a case are separated.
The wrist mounting type portable apparatus having the case separated type bangle type strap is constituted by a portable apparatus and a case separated type bangle type strap. The portable apparatus is constituted by an apparatus main body and a case in a circular shape, a square shape or the like for containing and fixing the apparatus main body. The case is a case not only for simply containing and fixing the apparatus main body of the portable apparatus but realizing properties of waterproof property, pressure resistance property, impact resistance property and the like of the apparatus.
The case separated type bangle type strap is formed with strap piece portions on a left side and on a right side thereof and formed with an attaching hole for attaching the case at a central portion thereof. The case of the portable apparatus is mounted to the attaching hole of the case separated type bangle type strap and fixed thereto by a fixing part of a setscrew or the like. Owning to the structure, the wrist mounting type portable apparatus having the case separated type bangle type strap does not effect any influence on the performance of containing the case, the waterproof property, the impact resistance property and the like. However, according to the wrist mounting type portable apparatus having the case separated type bangle type strap, a fixing part of a setscrew or the like needs to use for fixing the case and therefore, there poses a problem in view of the structure that the case size is enlarged by that amount. Therefore, the wrist mounting type portable apparatus having the case separated type bangle type strap is not applicable to a wrist watch of a female size.
In contrast thereto, a wrist mounting type portable apparatus having a case integrated type bangle type strap is constituted by a bangle type strap made of metal or hard plastic formed with a case hole at a center portion thereof for coupling a pair of strap pieces substantially in a semicircular shape extended in left and right directions, an apparatus main body contained in the case hole and a glass member closing an upper side opening of the case hole of the bangle type strap.
That is, as shown by FIG. 4, the wrist mounting type portable apparatus having the case integrated type bangle type strap is constituted by a portable apparatus 10 and a case integrated type bangle type strap 20. The case integrated type bangle type strap 20 is a strap made of metal or made of hard plastic formed with a case hole 22 for containing an apparatus main body at a central portion 21 having a thick wall and a wide width and formed with a left side strap piece 23 and a right side strap piece 24 respectively on left and right sides thereof. A stepped portion is formed at an inner peripheral face at a vicinity of an upper side opening of the case hole 22. After containing the portable apparatus 10 at a predetermined location of the case hole 22, a glass member 25 is fitted to the upper side opening of the case hole 22 such that a lower face thereof is seated on the stepped portion and fixed thereto by welding or an adhering agent. In this way, by welding or adhering the glass member 25 and the strap 20, the waterproof property of the upper side. opening of the case hole 22 is guaranteed.
On the other hand, a lower side opening of the case hole 22 is closed by a male screw 26 in a shape of a circular disk after containing a battery 10a at a predetermined location of the case hole 22. A rubber packing is arranged between a head portion of the male screw 26 in the circular disk shape and a peripheral edge portion of the lower side opening of the case hole 22 and the water proof property of the lower side opening of the case hole 22 is guaranteed by screwing to fasten the male screw 26 in the circular disk shape to a female screw portion formed at an inner peripheral face of the lower side opening of the case hole 22.
According to the conventional wrist mounting type portable apparatus, in the case of the wrist mounting type portable apparatus having the case integrated type bangle type strap, the strap needs to open to mount to the wrist. That is, it is necessary to open the strap by pulling an end portion 23a of the left side strap piece 23 and an end portion 24a of the right side strap piece 24 respectively to outer peripheral sides. Then, the case hole 22 of the case integrated type bangle type strap 20 is applied with stresses produced by pulling to open the strap. The stresses applied by pulling to open the strap concentrate on left and right inner peripheral faces of the case hole 22 in a strap length direction. When the wrist mounting type portable apparatus is explained by a wrist watch, the stresses are concentrated on the inner peripheral faces of the case hole 22 in a 12 o""clock direction and a 6 o""clock direction. Therefore, the upper side opening of the case hole 22 may be deformed to peel off the fixing portion of the case hole 22 and the glass member 25. When the peel off is brought about, there poses a problem that waterproof cannot be guaranteed and the glass member 25 is detached from the case hole 22 in the worst case of the peel off.
In order to deal with the above-described problem, according to the conventional wrist mounting type portable apparatus having the case integrated type bangle type strap, there is adopted a structure in which a hinge mechanism for absorbing the stresses only by the strap 20 is put to a middle portion of the strap. That is, in the case integrated type bangle type strap 20 as shown by FIG. 4, the structure is a structure in which the hinge mechanisms are respectively put to a middle portion 23b of the left side strap piece 23 and a middle portion 24b of the right side strap piece 24. However, in the case of the hinge mechanism, there poses a problem that the skin or the hair around the wrist is caught in the hinge portion and in the case of a plastic strap, there is a concern of destructing the mechanism portion.
Hence, the invention provides a glass member fixing structure which prevents detachment of a glass member due to stress concentration by opening or closing a strap and which guarantees the waterproof property of the case in a wrist mounting type portable apparatus having a case integrated type bangle type strap.
In order to resolve the above-described problem, a wrist mounting type portable apparatus having a bangle type strap according to the invention is constituted by a bangle type strap made of plastic formed with a case hole at a central portion thereof for coupling a pair of strap pieces substantially in a semicircular shape extended in left and right directions, a portable apparatus contained in the case hole, a glass member seated on a stepped portion of the case hole of the bangle type strap for closing an upper side opening thereof and a case back for closing a lower side opening of the case hole and the glass member is fixed to the bangle type strap made of plastic by a fitting groove formed at one of a portion of an inner peripheral face of the case hole on a side upward from the stepped portion and a portion of a peripheral edge of the glass member and a fitting projection formed at other thereof. Further, as the bangle type strap made of plastic, a bangle type strap made of nylon species plastic is optimum.
When the fitting groove is provided at a portion of the inner peripheral face of the case hole, the fitting projection is provided at a portion of the peripheral edge of the glass member. Conversely, when the fitting groove is provided at a portion of the peripheral edge of the glass member, the fitting projection is provided at a portion of the inner peripheral face of the case hole.
Further, locations of providing the fitting groove or the fitting projection are provided at left and right inner peripheral faces of the case hole in a length direction of the strap, that is, portions at which stresses in opening and closing the strap are concentrated.
Further, in addition to a structure of biting to fix glass, a waterproofing rubber packing is arranged between a lower face of the glass member and the stepped portion of the inner peripheral face of the case hole to thereby promote waterproofing function.
Further, the wrist mounting type portable apparatus having the bangle type strap according to the invention includes a reinforcing plate comprising a material harder than the bangle type strap, and arranged between the portable apparatus and the inner peripheral face of the case hole for protecting the portable apparatus of the bangle type strap and restraining movement of the bangle type strap.